Gravesend & Northfleet 4 - 0 Halifax Town

GRAVESEND erased the memory of last weekend’s defeat at Scarborough with a comfortable victory against Halifax Town at Stonebridge Road on Saturday.

Fleet made a lively start to the match and Andy Drury and Charlie MacDonald in particular were linking up well in attack.

In a hectic five minutes midway through the first half, Ross Smith hit the bar with a header from a Jimmy Jackson corner, Paul McCarthy should have done better with a similar chance, Jackson saw his shot parried by Ian Dunbavin and Craig Holloway made a point blank save at the feet of John Gray.

But Canadian defender Smith made up for his earlier miss in the 36th minute when he scrambled the ball home from close range after Jackson had crossed from the left wing to put Fleet in front.

And Fleet had put the match beyond any doubt just four minutes into the second half.

First, in the 47th minute Danny Slatter unleashed a shot that looked like it was going to be comfortable for Dunbavin, but it hit MacDonald and found the back of the net.

Then two minutes later Slatter himself made it 3-0 poking home from close range after Justin Skinner’s shot had been knocked back across goal.

Gravesend suffered a blow in the 66th minute when substitute Onome Sodje received a straight red card for an ugly challenge on Halifax’s Steve Haslam. He will now be hit with a three-match ban.

But, despite the sending off, Drury completed the rout late on from the penalty spot.

Gravesend: Holloway, Protheroe, Smith, McCarthy, Skinner, Slatter (Sodje 54), Bowry (Surey 69), Saunders, Jackson, Drury, MacDonald.
Subs Not Used: Kerr, Gooding, Omoyinmi.
Sent off: Sodje 66
Attendance: 918.

Other Conference results:

Accrington Stanley 4 - 2 Crawley Town
Aldershot 2 - 2 Stevenage
Cambridge United 0 - 2 Woking
Canvey Island 1 - 0 Scarborough
Dagenham & Redbridge 3 - 1 Burton Albion
Herefore 1 - 0 Morecambe
Kidderminster 1 - 3 Forest Green Rovers
Southport 0 - 3 Exeter
Tamworth 2 - 2 Grays Athletic
York 5 - 0 Altrincham